After a serious week 2 upset against a Chiefs team most consider the best in the AFC, the Ravens travel to Detroit to face the Lions. Baltimore's luck with availability continues to get worse as multiple defensive players will miss today's game due to OLB Jaylon Ferguson contracting covid and multiple defensive players being close contact risks. Brandon Williams, Justin Madubuike, and Justin Houston are all scheduled to miss the trip to Detroit as a depleted Ravens teams gets even more depleted. If there's one team that can handle it, however, it's the Ravens. Many laughed and scoffed at the preseason win streak, but if that "pointless" record showed anything, it's that Baltimore's depth is fairly solid. That depth is definitely being put to the test so far in the 2021 season. That said, this game will come down to the same factor most Ravens games will likely come down to this season, Lamar Jackson. If Jackson can play like he did after the first quarter of the KC game, it's going to be very hard for any defense to slow down the Ravens. The o-line needs to continue upon their week 2 performance in order to let Jackson be the special player he can be. The added threat of a Sammy Watkins has also helped the Ravens offense, as well as the improved play of Hollywood Brown, who also is playing injured. Mark Andrews was able to disappear for most of week 2 and the Ravens continued rolling anyway. On the other side of the ball, the defense has to improve. At some point, you have to assume they will from their week 1 and week 2 performances. If they get to their usual top 10 level of play, the Ravens will be a problem for anyone. How they play against Detroit and another very good TE in TJ Hockenson will be interesting to see. There's always the concern of an emotional letdown game. Baltimore was known for them in the Flacco era but the Lamar Jackson Ravens have definitely had a different feel to them. Jackson is the leader of this team who keeps his guys focused. Something as simple as his "it's just one game, not like we won the superbowl" comment after the Chiefs game can do wonders for helping teammates stay focused. I think Baltimore moves to 2-1 today and stays tied for the top spot in the AFC North. We'll have to see if it stays a 4 way tie though. EDIT: I forgot Pittsburgh and Cincinatti play each other so it definitely won't be a 4 way tie. We'll see if there are 2 or 3 teams at the top going into week 4 LET'S GO, RAVENS!!!
NFL Record 66 yarder to win the game. JESUS, just enough to bounce it off the crossbar and over. Tucker you are ridonkulous!
This near heart attack was causwd by Hollywood dropping 2 freaking TD passes off his hands. Baltimore is making things harder on themselves this year. Thankfully we have two cheat codes. Lamar and Tucker. Side note, did the Ravens make Mahomes and the Chiefs mortal? From 0 career September INTs or losses to back to back September INT games and back to back losses
Lamar really had an impressive day that looks like an average day on the stat sheet. Hollywood.....no, Marquise Brown with 3 deep passes bouncing off his fingers, 2 of which would have been TDs really took away from Lamar's performace. Those 3 passes accounted for 92 air yards, and as said, 2 were guaranteed TDs. That on a day Lamar threw 287 yards with over a 9.2 yards per attempt. Catch just 2 and we're talking 330+, and extra 1-2 TDs (depending on which ones he caught), and a ridiculous 10+ yards per attempt. Oh and he crossed off another narrative. "When it's 4th and long and he has to throw, he can't run, can he throw for the first down". Apparently on 4th and 19 he can. The defense really needs to work on tackling. Patrick Queen is asking to be benched, but unfortunately we don't have better options with these injuries and covid. O-line had a little regression, but nowhere near as bad as the Vegas game. Good to see Jimmy Smith back on the field. The OC and DC have been calling great plays. The execution has been a question mark, but the play calling has been pretty good. Ravens stay tied for division lead with the Ohio teams. All North teams appear to have a weakness or 2. A big weakness for Baltimore has been availability but some of that can and should be corrected. Ravens defense ranked near the bottom of the league. That needs to change
Yes, they did. At least according to what was displayed on the broadcast. The big question remains whether it was in sync with the stadium clock. The officials seemed puzzled by the question when asked, and none of the coaches or players on the sidelines seemed to notice, so I am inclined to believe it was a TV issue, but who knows. That said, I can recall multiple times we were on the other side of that same issue, so it all balances in the end.I really feel for the Lions fans, that was a kick in the gut.
I've read that the tv broadcast started the game clock at 35 seconds whereas the stadium clock started at 40. That makes sense because I can't imagine the clock hitting 0 for 2-3 seconds and not one person on Detroit's sidelines being in an uproar about it. Even the fans were quiet and that's telling since the game was in Detroit.
I had to listen to the end of the game on game pass and the Detroit announcers were going crazy about the game clock on that play even calling it egregious. The TV when showing the highlights made it a big deal too. But Tucker is the baddest ass kicker I have ever seen. The highest % on his kicks and the longest ever. First ballot HOF for a kicker.
This was one of the games that I watched live this weekend and, frankly, it was one of the more entertaining that I've viewed so far this year. Not a lot of posts coming from the Ravens board this season (where the fuck is @Kid ?) but I'll throw some questions out anyway - Can Ty'son Williams and Latavius Murray be enough of a threat on the ground to keep some kind of image of a balanced attack when needed? Would you be open to trading a 4th round pick for Marlon Mack? How confident are you that the Ravens offense could operate successfully with Huntley at the helm if Jackson were to miss two to four weeks? What is the weakest link for either (both) sides of the ball? The Ravens have a trap game on the road in Denver before playing a 4 game stretch at home. You're 2-1. What will your record be five Tuesdays from now?
1. I feel Ty'son could be enough of a threat by himself, but they've drastically reduced his snaps, saying they wanted to have a balanced rushing committee. In termsnof Sunday's game, it was also said that they noticed Detroit committing to stop the run so they aired it out. Would have looked good if not for drops. 2. No. I'd rather they activate Bell. Ravens are low on cap space and with how players keep dropping, I'd rather they just hold on to the money just in case. Besides, I've said before that I don't think a run game with Roman at OC and Lamar at QB can every be bad. 3. I'm not lol. Huntley is definitely "Lamar lite" but he has little experience under live fire. I think he'd play well but also succumb to inexperience related mistakes 4. On offense, o-line without question. On defense it's the ILB right now, specifically the tackling of Queen. His instincts are there but his execution has been terrible. 5. Hmm. Anywhere between 5-3 and 7-1. This team has done well imo to be 2-1 with as many injuries as they have. But players will and are returning. Justin Houston, Justin Madubuike, and Brandon Williams all missed the Lions game, all three are back and will play against Denver. That's a strong boost. Miles Boykin and Rashod Bateman are active and practicing. If you watched the whole Lions game you saw what they are trying to do with passing game. Adding two more bigger bodied WRs will added to Lamar's options. Nick Boyle and Derek Wolfe are still scheduled to return as well. Players will need to get up to speed and Bateman likely won't play this week, but these are all positive additions imo.
